Investing in Northeast Ohio’s Future Workforce
JPMorgan Chase invests $500,000 to Support Student Engagement in IT and STEM Fields
CLEVELAND, Ohio (October 2023) – The Greater Cleveland Career Consortium (GCCC) and Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U.) have been awarded a total of $500,000 by JPMorgan Chase to foster student engagement within the Information Technology (IT) and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The two-year investment, from which GCCC received $300,000 and Y.O.U. $200,000, will not only be used to serve current students interested in pursuing IT careers, but to build a network of employers engaged with this work.
“GCCC’s goal through our employer engagement strategy is to expose students to opportunities available in our region”
The GCCC, launched in March 2022, is a collective impact focused on creating a regionalized career pathway system that connects organizations across sectors to help every student in Greater Cleveland design a career plan that aligns with their interests and skills. The GCCC partners with school districts to include Planning and Career Exploration (PACE) curriculum for all 6th -12th grade students during the school day, and connects employers with local school districts, students, and families to help build our regional workforce. Funding from JPMorgan Chase will support GCCC’s efforts to refine, implement, and expand employer engagement efforts with the goal of increasing student exposure to career possibilities
GCCC President & CEO Autumn Russell notes, “GCCC’s goal through our employer engagement strategy is to expose students to opportunities available in our region, provide hands-on work-based learning experiences to hone their interests, and help them establish a career vision and plan for how to achieve their long-term career goals. This investment from JPMorgan Chase will be instrumental in shaping the way we engage with employer partners so we can more effectively open opportunities to students across Greater Cleveland.”
Funding will also support a two-year IT Academy as part of Y.O.U.’s teen summer jobs program. These academies are focused on equipping rising high school seniors with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in their chosen industry. JPMorgan Chase will support 50 students to receive six weeks of hands-on training and career development, while earning a paycheck, and a year of coaching from a caring adult. The goal of summer academies is to create a pipeline of talent to address the region’s shortage of skilled workers in high-demand industries and provide youth a pathway to meaningful, family sustaining employment.
“Young people are our next generation of leaders”
“Young people are our next generation of leaders, yet too many, especially from underrepresented communities, don’t have access to the skills, network and work experience they need to prepare them for meaningful employment opportunities in the future,” said Dave Allen, Executive Director, Market Team Lead for Northern Ohio at J.P. Morgan Private Bank. “Bringing together community partners like this can help bridge this gap and ensure that more young people are connected with the resources and tools they need to better prepare them for the opportunities of tomorrow.”
Y.O.U. was founded in 1982 to provide summer jobs for Cleveland teens and continues the work to achieve its mission of preparing teens and young adults to become economically self-sufficient contributors to building Northeast Ohio’s educated, skilled, and inclusive workforce through multiple programs. As part of the IT Academy, Y.O.U. will work with JPMorgan Chase to develop financial literacy lessons for participating students. “We are excited to expand our summer academies programming into the high-demand field of information technology through the support of JPMorgan Chase,” shared Y.O.U.’s President and CEO Craig Dorn. “Beyond building opportunities for the students who participate in the IT Academy in the summers of 2024 and 2025, we plan to take our learnings from this experience to develop additional programs that will ultimately impact more students over the coming years.”
GCCC is currently serving Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD), Cleveland Heights-University Heights City Schools, East Cleveland City Schools, Garfield Heights City Schools, Maple Heights City Schools, and Warrensville Heights City Schools. An additional five districts will launch PACE programming in fall 2024 including Bedford City Schools, Brooklyn City Schools, Fairview Park City Schools, Richmond Heights Local Schools, and Shaker Heights City Schools. GCCC will serve over 33,000 students in grades 6-12 within these 11 districts annually.
This investment represents JPMorgan Chase’s third investment in PACE and the GCCC. The funder awarded a grant to CMSD in 2021 to support the development of the PACE framework and a grant in 2022 to the GCCC to assist in the creation of its shared measurement system as well as its early employer engagement strategy.
Media Contact:
Katie Brennan, Greater Cleveland Career Consortium Director of Development & Stakeholder Engagement
kbrennan@greaterclecc.org, 440-313-5976